Monday, May 21, 2012

Songbirds or perching birds are called passerines. A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes,
which contains the most species of birds of the twenty-seven orders of
birds on Earth. They represent about 45% of the bird species in
Michigan, and nearly three-fifths of all living birds worldwide.

The largest passerine is the Common Raven
which can weigh as much as 3 pounds. They can be found across the
northern hemisphere. When you hear the variety of noises, such as caws, croaks, and gurgles that the raven produces may not think of it as a songbird, but their wide range of vocalizations for communication is impressive.

Verdin image via Wikipedia

The smallest North American passerine is the Verdin, a tiny, active songbird of the arid southwestern United States and northern Mexico, which weighs 0.2 oz.

Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world but they
are nonpasserines. According to the Birds of Michigan Field Guide by Ted Black
nonpasserines are birds that in general have calls instead of songs and can be very large like
waterfowl, raptors, gulls, shorebirds and woodpeckers. Some of the smaller
nonpasserines are doves, swifts and hummingbirds.

Bee Hummingbird

image via
farm1.static.flickr.com

At 2.8–3.5 inches long and weighing 0.1–0.2 oz the Ruby-Throated
Hummingbird Archilochus colubris is the smallest bird that nests
in Michigan.

At 3 inches long and weighing 0.1 oz, the Calliope
HummingbirdStellula calliope is North
America's smallest bird. It nests in mountain areas of the northwestern
United States and winters in
Mexico.

And the Bee HummingbirdMellisuga
helenae which lives in Cuba and Isla de la Juventud is the smallest living
bird in the world at length of 2 inches and a weight of 0.063 oz